Doughnuts
6 Sep 2008
Travel / Driving from the UK to Krakow [11]
I would just like to say a quick hello to everyone as this is my 1st post as I only discoverd this site the night before I drove to Poland.
My wife is polish and from the time she fell pregnant we have been driving to Poland. We decided that this would be more comfortable and with the birth of our son the extra room and freedom more than made up for the time it takes.
I recommend avoiding the ferries and only use the channel tunnel as like the ferry the crossing time is reasonably flexible if you turn up early/late but it is very fast.
Driving through France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany is fantastic and a pleasure as you do not need to place your foot on the brake for 800 miles except to pull over into a parking area to change a nappy. Parking areas and fuel stations appear to be dotted along the motorways every 5km's and is a welcome change from the UK's sparse service stations. Lorries/TIR's are not allowed to overtake along many stretches of road and they all appear to respect this. The biggest problem for me is the lack of street lighting which in itself would not be a problem if their were cat's eyes in the road. Driving in Germany at 3am can be a bit hairy as the motorways have a habit of twisting sharply around, especially where East and West are joined.
Then when you cross into Poland at Gorlitz it all changes. There is no motorway between here and the middle of nowhere if you want to travel towards Wroclaw and Krakow. The middle of nowhere is where you pick up the new (free) A4 motorway which is a joy to drive on however in about 5 years I should imagine that it will be a slightly different experience. Driving near Opole this time was an exerience as well, a tonado had not long ripped through and the traffic all slammed on thiere brakes as I do not beleive any of the other drivers had seen a broken tree before. When you get to Katowice you then have to pay a toll for the motorway which is surprisingly poorly maintained for a toll road. It appears that at any point on the stretch between here and krakow only one side is open at anytime as it is all contaflow controlled.
The problem I have with driving in Poland is that unlike Germany where faster drivers flash there lights as a warning that they are travelling faster, Polish drivers do this just to be aggresive. They also enjoy tailgating and speeding up when you move to overtake them. I also do not understand when I forget to turn my lights on during daytime driving as this is now a year round safety law, many drivers will speed past a 100+ mph flashing there lights ecause mine are off. I also can not comprehend why I see so many brand new motors being driven so carelessly across some of the poorest road surfaces in Europe.
As a side note I have driven to Poland 4 times now in 18 months and the difference in this time is remarkable. The Polish government is making a lot of improvments to the road network, at least on the roads I use. Driving on the right is as natural an experince as driving on the left and only once have I found myself starting out on the left when leaving the in-laws. Driving in Krakow is easier than it looks and the new 1 way system is going to make it even easier. The best piece of advice I can offer for a foreigner driving in Poland in a foreign car is that if your not sure, just go for it as speed cameras etc might catch you but no one is going to go to the trouble of pursuing you into another country. I found the traffic police are less likely to pull me for a random check as they do often as it is too much trouble for them to try to communicate. Another tip would be to be carefull where you take fuel from as I found that many village stations do not offer the ability to pay by card.
Anyway I hope that this post may have been of use to someone.
I would just like to say a quick hello to everyone as this is my 1st post as I only discoverd this site the night before I drove to Poland.
My wife is polish and from the time she fell pregnant we have been driving to Poland. We decided that this would be more comfortable and with the birth of our son the extra room and freedom more than made up for the time it takes.
I recommend avoiding the ferries and only use the channel tunnel as like the ferry the crossing time is reasonably flexible if you turn up early/late but it is very fast.
Driving through France, Belgium, Netherlands and Germany is fantastic and a pleasure as you do not need to place your foot on the brake for 800 miles except to pull over into a parking area to change a nappy. Parking areas and fuel stations appear to be dotted along the motorways every 5km's and is a welcome change from the UK's sparse service stations. Lorries/TIR's are not allowed to overtake along many stretches of road and they all appear to respect this. The biggest problem for me is the lack of street lighting which in itself would not be a problem if their were cat's eyes in the road. Driving in Germany at 3am can be a bit hairy as the motorways have a habit of twisting sharply around, especially where East and West are joined.
Then when you cross into Poland at Gorlitz it all changes. There is no motorway between here and the middle of nowhere if you want to travel towards Wroclaw and Krakow. The middle of nowhere is where you pick up the new (free) A4 motorway which is a joy to drive on however in about 5 years I should imagine that it will be a slightly different experience. Driving near Opole this time was an exerience as well, a tonado had not long ripped through and the traffic all slammed on thiere brakes as I do not beleive any of the other drivers had seen a broken tree before. When you get to Katowice you then have to pay a toll for the motorway which is surprisingly poorly maintained for a toll road. It appears that at any point on the stretch between here and krakow only one side is open at anytime as it is all contaflow controlled.
The problem I have with driving in Poland is that unlike Germany where faster drivers flash there lights as a warning that they are travelling faster, Polish drivers do this just to be aggresive. They also enjoy tailgating and speeding up when you move to overtake them. I also do not understand when I forget to turn my lights on during daytime driving as this is now a year round safety law, many drivers will speed past a 100+ mph flashing there lights ecause mine are off. I also can not comprehend why I see so many brand new motors being driven so carelessly across some of the poorest road surfaces in Europe.
As a side note I have driven to Poland 4 times now in 18 months and the difference in this time is remarkable. The Polish government is making a lot of improvments to the road network, at least on the roads I use. Driving on the right is as natural an experince as driving on the left and only once have I found myself starting out on the left when leaving the in-laws. Driving in Krakow is easier than it looks and the new 1 way system is going to make it even easier. The best piece of advice I can offer for a foreigner driving in Poland in a foreign car is that if your not sure, just go for it as speed cameras etc might catch you but no one is going to go to the trouble of pursuing you into another country. I found the traffic police are less likely to pull me for a random check as they do often as it is too much trouble for them to try to communicate. Another tip would be to be carefull where you take fuel from as I found that many village stations do not offer the ability to pay by card.
Anyway I hope that this post may have been of use to someone.